Highlights of the Week

Let me tell you some highlights of a week, because I have had so much
fun this week.

- We were invited to a bible study! After contemplating the
possibilities of entering into our own doom, Elder N and I
gunned for it. Turns out it the funnest time on my mission. We were
treated like regulars. There was a lot of laughing, and good input,
and a large amount of hugs. Those I avoided. But we even got a
minister interested in coming to church. That was way cool. We're
invited any time.
- The Hernandez boys went to church! I haven't talked about them, but
they are unbaptized children of Brother and Sister H, who have
been less active for years. We've been working with Brother H,
who really wants to go to church, but keeps the peace with his wife.
But the Hernandez boys loved it, and want to come again! (This is
especially surprising, because they're teenagers)
- Brother and Sister H got me cake and cinnamon rolls because I
was sick! Sister M thinks missionaries are her sons. She's great.
- Transfers this week! I have no idea what's going to happen, because
we get our transfer emails on Tuesday night. I hope I train!
- I have four talks that I call "fire starters". I read them any time
I need an extra boost in personal study. Lynn G. Robbins "Which way do
you face?", Tad R. Callister "The Book of Mormon- A Book From God",
David A. Bednar "And Nothing Shall Offend Them", and my favorite,
Gordon B. Hinckley's "Find the Lambs, Feed my Sheep"

So yeah. I hope you understand that I'm doing well.

Pictures!

The Power of the Gospel and Good Medication

I am tempted not to post this, as I have had the experience of being with
Richard when he has had pain meds.  It is funny, but not fun.


As a missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, I
am to use dignified language to help others recognize me as a servant
of God. But sometimes, a servant of God has to lay it down like it is.
This week was rough. I felt like garbage. I woke up in the middle of
the night writhing in pain multiple times. This was not a fun week.

Sorry, I just needed to get that off of my chest. Luckily, I am
feeling much, much better today. I even had some toast! Which is a
major improvement, because I was taken off of my liquid diet on
Thursday, and the only thing I was able to eat was soup, which
promptly made me sick to my stomach and I didn't have any strength to
get out of bed for the rest of the day. So things are looking up for
me.

Perhaps the most memorable part of this week is the part that I can't
quite remember. Last Wednesday, I went to the doctor for an
ultrasound. When I told them that I was still in pain, they told me
they would give me some medicine to help with it. What they didn't
tell me was that it was a shot of morphine.
Now, if you are a member of my family, then you know very well that I
don't handle pain killers or sedatives or anything stronger than an
excedrin very well. My mother especially has a few stories she loves
to share about me lying in the hospital, filled with medication, that
she remembers quite fondly. Whatever was about to happen was going to
be very embarrassing.
So here I am, hobbling out of the room, my companion and the Elders
giving us a ride waiting for me, and things are starting to get a
little shaky. I told them what happened, and they all smiled. They
knew as well they were in for a treat.
We had to go to district meeting right after the appointment. District
meeting is where all of the missionaries in the area come together to
have trainings and other important things. Me and Elder Nebeker
decided to sit out in the foyer as our district had their meeting. I
remember giggling a little, then flopping onto one of the couches.
The next thing I remember,I was lying in my bed with a major headache.
The district leader and his companion were there with a half dozen
bags of cheez-its.
"Hey there, Elder Hall. How are you feeling?"
"What are you doing?"
"When we passed by you while you were on the couch. You said you loved
Cheez-its. So we brought you some."
"I did?"
"Yeah, and you were also singing this song and drooling all over the
place. You were really happy."
"What the heck?"
Apparently I was singing songs for everyone that dropped by, which
included the Zone Leaders, the Assistants to the Mission President,
the sister missionaries in our district, and the Sister Assistants to
the mission president. I was also very intrigued by how paper felt,
and I was very concerned that my legs were numb. All I remember is
that my legs were numb.
Perhaps the worst part of that story was that I really do love
Cheez-its, but I wasn't allowed to have anything except for water and
gatorade for the next 36 hours. But yeah, my morphine incident has
been the talk of just about every missionary in our district and in
the North San Antonio Zone. At least I was happy.

The moral of this week is, sometimes you get sick That's life. And
sometimes, you get shot with a really good painkiller that totals you
and now you're the butt of a lot of jokes that you don't understand,
even though they are about you. But no matter what, the restored
gospel is here on earth. It's teachings and doctrine is of great
comfort for all those who earnestly search for it. There is no greater
joy to be found in life than in keeping the commandments of God.
"If ye love me, keep my commandments."
I know for a fact that Heavenly Father loves us, and that his only
begotten son, Jesus Christ, is our savior, redeemer, and lord. When we
show our love in righteous action, there is a blessing given to us,
and many times it is stronger and greater than we can ever imagine. No
sickness, no pain, no sorrow, no problem cannot be overcome by
applying the atonement of Jesus Christ in my life. The worth of every
soul is great in the sight of God.

Elder Richard Hall

Ain't That a Kick in the Pants

This week, to quote myself , was "a real kick in the pants." There was ups, downs, lefts, rights, general confusion, complete understanding, pure terror, and absolute joy. If there is a better way to describe the week other than "A real kick in the pants," you tell me. No really, send me a reply email back with a more-mission appropriate phrase.

The week started out fantastic. Tuesday was highlighted by a great zone conference where we got to be trained by President Slaughter and his assistants. Now, I suspect that many a missionary says this about their mission president, but this guy could be an apostle before he leaves this mortal realm. He has this wonderful way of making the gospel so conversational. He has a great way of showing that this isn't a two year mission, but a mission is for life. 

Later that night we had the best lesson anyone could ever ask for. We were teaching the Restoration to a family of four. About halfway into the lesson, the family started to perfectly describe the apostasy and why the fulness of the gospel needed to brought back through a prophet. Elder N and I took a moment to just stare at each other and wonder why everyone isn't as perfect as the Lambert family. When it came time to invite them to baptism, we literally didn't even have to ask. We just brought up the blessings of following the example of Christ when the mother interrupted us and said,

"We'll get baptized."

"Wait, really?"

"Yeah, it'll be great. Everything you say is exactly what I believe."

The bishop, who was present at the lesson, did his best to keep his cool, but after the lesson he drove us to get shaved ice and we had a party until 9:29. It was pretty much the best moment of my mission so far. 

The second half of the week has not been so hot. I mean, yeah, we have had a lot more success and work to do this week than any other week, but Saturday I got sick. Way sick. And there is nothing worse than being locked up in your apartment all day when you know you are missing important scheduled appointments, and you can't do a thing about it because you can hardly get out of bed. I don't have any idea what it is, but it is painful, and I have had it for three days now. It is far from fun. The Mission President even came by just to make sure I was okay, which was awful nice of him. then again, he lives about 20 minutes away from our apartment. It was a good gesture. 

Being sick really takes the energy out of you. There's not much I want to do but crawl in bed and try to not think about the pain. But for some highlights of the week:

- I helped a member move into our ward. He was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the fifth round out of high school. I talked to him for a long time. I looked at some of his old baseballs and trophies. He has the sweetest David Justice figurine.

- I found out that there is a member in Austin that has a baseball field in his backyard, and he lets missionaries play on it on P-days. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?

- It was my brother's birthday yesterday. Happy Birthday Keith!

  - If it wasn't your birthday yesterday, sorry I forgot what day it was, Keith!

- I have only thrown up once since I have gotten sick. Optimism!

I wish there was a greater spiritual fire with this message, but on a scale of 1-10, I feel like a 1.1. 

Have a great week!

I Look Just Like Buddy Holly And you're Mary Tyler Moore.

No, I don't know why I decided to title my weekly letter after a
Weezer song, but I do know why I have it stuck in my head this busy
P-day in San Antonio. This Sunday I was sitting in the sacrament
meeting of the Indian Springs ward when I reflected upon my first
sacrament meeting while on my mission, which was spent in a small room
in the Provo MTC. I was a swell four days out on my mission, and my
mind was filled with information tumbling around in my mind. It
brought me back to the sacrament before I left on my mission, where
even to that day I marveled at the missionaries in their suit jackets,
sitting in the pews and wishing that there was an investigator at
church. I now feel how they feel, and wish what they wish. At the same
time, I suppose that also means that there are young men in the two
wards that I cover that have the same feelings towards me that I had
towards those two missionaries I saw back in Idaho. It reminded me of
the simple, beautiful Buddy Holly song "Every Day".

It seems that every day I am improving as a missionary, bit by bit. I
have gone from a sense of wonder and near surreality to a true sense
that I know what the heck I am doing. In the past two weeks, Elder
N and I have put a hard nose to the grindstone and found 12 new
investigators of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
That's quite a bit, concerning that 14 days ago we didn't even have 12
investigators to teach. The two of us, as well as the wonderful
members of the church that we look over, have been working very hard
to bring in the white harvest of the field. And I truly believe that
we are finding people who are prepared to not only hear and
understand, but to convert to the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ in
its fulness.

Recently, we committed a woman to date of baptism, which is beyond
exciting. However, we have two appointments, one with a family of four
and another family of six, where I have a great confidence that they
too will take the great step into baptism, if not this week, then
surely within their lifetimes. To me, it is another testament of the
truthfulness of the church, and the power of the atonement that can
work within every single one of us.

Fun fact, about 35% of all the living member of the LDS church have
been members for less than  15 years. To me it is amazing that almost
4 out of the 10 people that go to church have not been members their
whole lives, but have made an astonishing step of repentance in the
mature years of their lives.

Also at the sacrament meeting that I was describing, we got to talk to
an 87-year old member named N. He speaks only Spanish and shuffles
around in his ancient rattlesnake boots. he told me what was probably
one of the most empowering, sincere, and loving statements that I have
heard not only in my mission, but in my life. He spoke to my companion
Elder Nebeker, because he actually can speak Spanish, and said
"You two are Angels. It says in the Book of Mormon that Angels speak
the words of Christ, and that is what you are doing. So you are
angels. Thank you for what you are doing."

"Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost, wherefore, they speak
the words of Christ. Wherefore, I say unto you, feast upon the words
of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things
what ye should do."
- 2 Nephi 32:3

Elder Richard Hall

Miracles take Work

Shalom, Shalom! San Antonio is still blazing hot, the bikes have been
fast and the work of salvation is rolling forth! I do not believe that
I have ever been so busy in my life. Perhaps the only moment that
could rival the amount of business would be Wednesdays on my second
semester in college, where I started work at 4 in the morning at the
Clyde Building on BYU campus and didn't get off of campus until the
end of Barbershop Choir practice, which usually ended at about 9:00.
Otherwise, no other point in my life have I had so much to do. And
never in my life has it been so rewarding.

On Saturday we had a wonderful lesson with a family of four. The
missionaries knocked on their door about a month ago and have been
trying to teach them a lesson ever since, and my great companion Elder
Nebeker and I as well as a member of the congregation came to the
lesson. The family was so touched that we came and discussed with them
the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. When we offered them a
Book of Mormon they said that they would read it together as a family
every night, even when their sons (Who are trying to get on the junior
olympic soccer team) were out of town on a tournament. It was quite
amazing to see how much they agreed with us, and were willing to
accept our invitations. To me, it was a great testament of why we do
missionary work. The holy spirit testified of the truthfulness of our
message so strongly during that 45 minutes we had with them. With
people like the Silarios, one cannot help but expect miralcles of
missionary work in their life.

Unfortunately, miracles take work to happen. You can't put on a
nametag and say you are  representative of Jesus Christ and expect you
to turn your coke into pepsi every day. Just because you know and
follow the doctrine of repentance and humility doesn't mean everyone
is going to recognize you as a man of God. Goodness no! Miracles take
work. Many miracles happen only after all we can do, then the
beautiful gift of grace kicks in. Nephi, the son of the prophet Lehi,
only received a spiritual witness of his father's words only after he
read the scriptures, prayed to know of its sayings, and pondered
deeply and humbly. The legendary stripling warriors were saved from
the sting of death only after exercises diligent faith in the commands
of there leader, Helaman. They did not miss an order, they did not
falter in their belief, they simply did the work, even when they were
chased across the countryside, confronted in heavy battle, and faced
with starvation. Likewise a miracle such as the Silario family cannot
happen unless Elder Nebeker and I have done all we can do to fulfill
our purpose as a missionary. Which almost always includes work.

One of the most efficient and helpful things that Elder Nebeker and I
have done is work with members to help them in their missionary
efforts. As missionaries, we have been working alongside many members
of our church to help their personal work of salvation. We do not care
who does, we just want people to come unto Christ and the fulness of
his gospel! It is not our place to steal the blessings of missionary
work from the members of the church. It turns out that if we are the
only two people inviting people to read the Book of Mormon, come to
church, go to mutual, have family home evening, it isn't the most
productive and uplifting thing in the world. But as we help members go
about fulfilling their duty of opening their mouths and preaching the
gospel lovingly and accordingly, there's a lot more missionary work
going on. And, like the investigators that we teach, we follow up with
them, see how they did, and then decide what they can do next. We
don't meet with members for us, we meet with members for them. So they
can receive the blessings of heaven. This is something that Elder
Nebeker and I, along with a little help from other leaders, have been
trying to implement in our areas.

When you are a missionary, you are given the opportunity of a
lifetime. Every day you have the goal of, "How can I be a better
person? What can I do to better serve my God?" Most days this is hard,
because of work, family, sports, quilting, whatever it is. But when
you are a missionary, you have 24 hours every day to to see what you
can do more. It's quite the blessing. And I admit, it isn't what I
thought it would be. But there is one thing that I always knew it was
going to be, it was always going to be worth it. And it is!

Peace, Love, and Happiness,

Elder Richard Hall

Richard went to the baptism of this young man, who he taught in his last area.

This is his new companion from Wendell Idaho

Hills

I've been transferred! My time with my wonderful companions Elder
T and Elder A has been untimely ripped and I'm out of my the
Texas San Antonio East Stake. I've been shipped off to a land of gated
communities. I am now covering the Evans Ranch and Indian Springs ward
in the Hill Country stake, and oh my goodness is it hilly. This is my
first area where I have to use a bike, and my hindquarters are
beginning to feel the agony of uneven ground. Luckily for my
companion, Elder N, and I, our two wards don't cover a whole lot
of area. But it does take us about an hour and a half to get to the
far part of our boundaries, and you can count on every single road
being uphill or downhill. It makes me wonder why all of the rich folk
decided to dwell here. The temple is also close by. It is about a mile
and a half from our apartment, and it is on top of a gigantic hill. We
can always see it coming back to the apartment after a long day's work
on the bike. It's a beautiful and comforting vision of why we do
missionary work which would feel much better if I wasn't drenched in
sweat, making my pants a fair two shades darker.

For my mother and father, the name N may sound familiar. That's
because Elder Nebeker comes from the small town of Wendell, Idaho. If
you looked on google maps, it's the town about 10 miles down the road
from my home town, Jerome Idaho. Yep. The world doesn't get much
smaller when you are a member of the church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-Day Saints. Believe it or not, we actually ran Cross Country
against each other back at home. And now here we are, in San Antonio
Texas, both of us drowning in humidity and giving others the gospel of
Jesus Christ. It is really fun. Elder N is very quiet, so his
training style involves a lot of me tripping over myself and finding
out what works best for me, while he gently corrects and uplifts after
I do it. I love this guy already.

I am living in an apartment with another set of missionaries who cover
the area right above us. Out of the four of us, I am the only one that
isn't Spanish called. In the apartment the three other missionaries
jibe and kibitz in Spanish, and I sit quietly at the table and read
the Book of Mormon in Spanish, trying to pick up something they're
saying. It also makes me lie down at night and think, "I should have
taken another year of Spanish in high school". Well, too late now
Elder Hall.

I'm struggling to find things to write about in this letter, because
there hasn't been too much that has happened. There's a lot of
potential in this area, but right now Elder N and I are laying
down the ground work for the work really begins to go forth. But
missionary work is just like any other work. You have to come up with
a plan before you can do anything. Both of these wards are fairly new,
and the ward boundaries changed less than a year ago, so we are trying
to get the members excited about strengthening the Kingdom of God
through missionary work. Missionary work is hard if there is only two
people who are trying to bring people into the church, but it gets
easier if the members become missionaries too. It's also a lot more
fun! So what Elder N and I are doing is trying to get our
investigators too be taught into the houses of members, and let them
know where the members are in the area. That way they can be assisted
in their spiritual conversion to the church of Jesus Christ by
socially converting to it along the way.

There is a Christian song called "The Body of Christ". It basically
talks about how beautiful it is. No, not the literal body of Christ,
but the church of Christ. Each Christian takes upon them the name of
Christ, and come together to worship in a body. Paul discusses how
each person who believes in God is essential to the group, one can't
do it without the other. If there is one thing that I could leave with
you this week, it is that Christianity is an organized religion, and
that Jesus Christ is the head of it. He has a church on this earth
that has proper authority from God, and that the holy spirit will
testify of it to you when you are ready. God needs every person on his
side, he is reaching out to all of us, his arms are always open to
those willing to come unto Him.

Keep it easy,

Elder Richard Hall

Dear Dad, kind of

Don't get fooled by the subject, this email is for everyone.
Whenever I write to my father I think about the old TV show MASH,
because there would be an episode where Hawkeye wrote to his father,
and almost everything he said would start with, "Dear Dad". It just
made everything so personal and intimate, as if his father could see
everything that I was saying perfectly. So I thought that if I really
wanted you to see and feel what I see and feel by addressing everyone
like this. Here goes nothing.

Dear Dad,
It's transfer week. Tomorrow I get to find out if I stay in my area,
if my companions stay in my area, or if nothing is going to change. I
have no idea, it's going to be in the Lord's hands. I hope that I stay
with my two companions Elder A and T. They are such wonderful
examples of what a disciple of Christ should be. They are incredibly
diligent and their purpose as a missionary is always amplified through
their works. I wish one day to be as good of missionaries as these two
wonderful young men.

In Texas, I wouldn't dare suspect to find anything that would remind
me of BYU, or anything concerning my college days, but, lo and behold,
it happened. We were having a inter-zonal soccer game with about 24
missionaries from all around San Antonio this morning when someone
I've never seen or met ran up and gave me a hug. It was way weird.
Turns out, I'm good friends with one of his closest friends, Ben
Everett, and I lived about 100 feet away from his cousins in my
apartment complex at BYU. We were all in the same ward at one point!
Crazy stuff. Crazy, crazy stuff. He even lived in MAN205, the same
place where my brothers Todd and Keith lived before him. His name is
Elder R- no, not Rhyme-shoe-shul, Rhine-chisel. That's how
you say his name. He's super happy and he wore a shirt that was a
velociraptor with the face of Robert Downey Jr. on it. The Robert
Downey Raptor. Precious moment.
Also, during that soccer game, our team rocked it. Then again, we had
two Mexicans and an Argentinian on our team, so that helped. I also
was about 4 pounds lighter after the game, which still puts me about
10 pounds heavier than I was a month ago. You'd be proud of me Dad, I
know it.

The workload of the lord has been immense this week. we had about 25
lessons with people who came from all walks of life. Two of our
lessons came from B and M, a Catholic couple in their early
40s who are very interested in going into the temple to be sealed
together as a family. We had an excellent lesson on the Plan of
Salvation that by the end both of them were crying and literally
asking us "What does it take to go to the temple?" "What can I do to
be Mormon?" The spirit of the Lord is working tremendously within
these two, and their two young boys. You would never have expected
them to have a fifth of Jack Daniels lying there in the living room
while we taught the lesson. Of course, it is purely ornamental. I
think we can change that.
The food has been amazing this week.

For the third time in just five weeks I had Brisket. Sweet Babies! Why
doesn't the whole world cook Brisket? it is the second most delicious
meet I've ever had, next to In-N-Out Burger. Nothing beats an In-N-Out
burger in California.

Hey Dad, next week I will have spent two months on a mission. Wow. So
much time, and yet so little. Many times I think about it in a light
of fractions. "Wow, 2 months. that means 1 out of the 12 people I'll
meet on my mission I've already talked to. I've already had 1 out of
my 12 P-days. 1 out of 12 dinner appointments with members who
appreciate missionary work. 1 out of 12 Sacrament meetings. Where has
the time gone? Have I done enough? I only have 11 more of these before
it's all gone, and I'm just brother Hall again."
Being a missionary is powerful! Talking to others about Jesus Christ
our lord and Savior 24/7 is the greatest gift I have been given. It is
an excellent privilege that I can't dare think that I am taking for
granted. As god said, "Behold, this is my work and my glory, to bring
to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." I am the vessel by
which His work and glory comes forth. If you have the chance, go talk
to a missionary. Let them talk to you. My favorite favorite favorite
part of being a missionary is getting to know people- getting to love
them. Care for them. I cannot express how great it is to go and talk
to someone about whatever they need. This is His work and His glory.
Dad, I know that you are a great man of faith, but so help me if there
is any doubt or speculation, follow the example of so many before you,

With Love,
Elder Richard Hall, your son

I hope that you felt my message on a little more personal level this
week. I love this church. I love what it does to people when they
fully commit to it. I love you! I trust you! All in!

Elder Richard Hall

P.S.- Some pictures of our district. I am about 6'1, and I'm one of
the smallest people there.